I came across this issue in Mint of 12 May 2008 (page 20). The item is a reprint from Wall Street Journal.

Jeffrey Liddle, an attorney in New York, says he filed an arbitration claim this week on behalf of a former mortgage-backed securites saleman at Merrill Lynch & Co. Despite having his best year ever, the saleaman's pay plummeted to about $190,000 from $1.2 million.

"He couldn't make enouhg money to feed his family," Mr Liddle says. The employee asked to be laid off, so he could receive a severance package. Merrill Lynch declined, so the salesman quite and took a job as a stockbroker at another firm.